Garlic and Herb Roasted Mushrooms

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Ben and I grill steaks a few times a month and I usually make a potato or creamy rice dish as a side along with a salad or steamed veggie.  I was in the mood to try something a little different to have with our incredible New York strips this past Saturday.  I found this recipe for roasted mushrooms in a Food Network cookbook called Making it Easy.  

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I changed the recipe in the cookbook just a bit.  I used less oil than called for (with great results) and added a few tablespoons of chopped Italian parsley.  I used half button and half shiitake mushrooms.  We loved these mushrooms.  They were a nice accompaniment to the steak and also a very tasty snack later that night cold from the fridge when I had a craving for these yummy salty, garlicky fungi.

I recently planted some rosemary in the back yard, so I was excited to use some of it for this recipe.  It is so nice to open up the back door, walk into the yard and just cut off a few sprigs of rosemary.  Let’s just hope I can keep the plant alive!

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Garlic and Herb Roasted Mushrooms

 

  • 1 1/2 pounds assorted mushrooms (I used half cremini and half shiitake)
  • 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 5 smashed garlic cloves
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • fresh cracked black pepper
  • 2-3 tablespoons water

 

Preheat oven to 450°.

  1. Clean and prepare mushrooms.  Be sure to remove the stems of the shiitake mushrooms, they are too tough to eat.  I halved some of the larger cremini mushrooms and left some whole.  They should all be about the same size.
  2. Toss mushrooms, olive oil, rosemary and parsley on a rimmed baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

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  1. Roast mushrooms for about 25 minutes until golden.  Once or twice during baking, move mushrooms around on the sheet.
  2. Remove from the oven and pour 2 or 3 tablespoons of water on the baking sheet and scrape up brown bits from the pan and toss the mushrooms.
  3. Season with more salt if desired.
  4. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Red Wine Brownies

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Wine and chocolate are perfect partners.  Well, in my opinion, wine and cheese are perfect partners, but I don’t see a blue cheese brownie in the near culinary future…unless someone reading this is feeling kinda crazy!  Let me know…

Anyway, a red wine brownie only seems natural.  This recipe comes from Cookiemadness, one of the first food blogs I started following when I started blogging.  Love it.

When I read through the ingredients I was so pleased that I had everything to make these without a trip to the store, always a good thing.  I was also pleased that I had an excuse to open a bottle of wine.  

The brownie batter came together really quickly, and I didn’t have to use my mixer!  All you need is a whisk and a spoon.  About 5 minutes before the brownies were done I made the glaze and it was ready when the brownies came out of the oven.  My brownies were very thin (less than 1/2 inch) in the center of the pan.  My cookiemadness advisor told me to be sure I just greased the BOTTOM of the pan.  Greasing the bottom only ensures that the brownies will bake up evenly instead of sticking to the sides and pulling the brownies outward.  I will try that when I make these again, and I will be making these again.  They are so tasty and different than just a regular fudgy brownie.  There is a slight yeast-like flavor that comes from the wine.  These are good.

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Red Wine Brownie Bars

  • 4 oz/114 grams unsalted butter (1 stick)
  • 1 ounce (28 grams) unsweetened chocolate, broken up
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (192 grams)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon red wine (Cabernet)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spoon lightly into cup to get 94 grams)

Red Wine Glaze

  • 3 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter (50 grams)
  • 1 oz unsweetened chocolate
  • 4 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar (60 grams)
  • 3 tablespoons red wine (Cabernet)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with foil and grease bottom of pan only or spray the bottom with cooking spray. Don’t spray the sides.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and add chocolate. Stir until chocolate melts, then add sugar. Continue heating for about 30 seconds to dissolve some of the sugar. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

Whisk the eggs, wine, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. Make sure you’ve whisked out any lumps of stray baking powder. Add a small amount of the slightly cooled chocolate mixture to the eggs and whisk until blended, then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture. Fold in the flour with a large spatula – the goal is to mix it, but not beat the flour too much. Pour into pan. Drop pan onto counter from about 5 inches once or twice to remove air bubbles. Bake on center rack and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Meanwhile prepare icing. Melt butter over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and add chocolate, sugar and wine. Continue heating over low, stirring often, until mixture is smooth – don’t let it boil. Pour hot wine mixture over fresh-out-of-the-oven brownie/cake base and let stand for an hour or so. The topping should sink down into the cake and settle on top. Let sit until topping has set. I put mine in the refrigerator to speed up the chocolate-setting. This worked well for the topping, but I think the refrigerator adds to much stiffness to the base so if you chill these, let them come back to room temp before serving.